sports
Svitolina wins BMW Malaysian Open
World number 19 Elina Svitolia from Ukraine wins the BMW Malaysian Open 2016 after beating Canadian Eugenie Bouchard. – Pic courtesy of BMW Malaysian Open, March 7, 2016.As expected, world number 19 Elina Svitolia clinched her fourth Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tour title after a tough match against Canadian Eugenie Bouchard in the final of the 2016 BMW Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur today.
The second seeded Ukrainian took the crown after outclassing six seeded Bouchard 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-5 in almost a three-hour battle at the Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club.
This is the fourth time the 21 year-old Svitolina has beaten Bouchard in a WTA tour event.
The victory came with US$43,000 (RM175,700) prize money for Svitolina.
Earlier today, Varatchaya Wongteanchai of Thailand and China's Yang Zhaoxuan rallied from a set down to claim the BMW Malaysian Open doubles title after defeating defending champions Liang Chen and Wang Yafan of China.
Liang/Wang went down to Wongteanchai/Yang 6-4, 4-6 and 7-10 in a match that lasted 89 minutes.
"We are very happy with our first ever WTA Tour win. It was just in November when we played them in Hua Hin where we lost 6-3, 6-4 despite being 4-2 up at one stage. Today, we got to play them again and we made it this time," said 26-year-old Wongteanchai.
For the record, Wongteanchai/Yang had lost to Liang/Wang 6-3, 6-4 in the final of the 2015 Hua Hin Open in Thailand.
"It was an amazing victory and we are happy to beat the defending champions. I think we can play more doubles together in the next WTA's tournaments," said 21-year-old Yang.
The duo bagged US$12,300 (RM49,900) and 280 WTA ranking points while the runners-up settled for US$6,400 (RM25,900) and 180 points. – Bernama, March 7, 2016.
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